Smacked One Rabbit and Haven’t Seen Any for 4 Days

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Ezana4CE

Ezana4CE

Member
Jan 15, 2021
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Texas, United States
I was walking the fence line at dusk and happened to see a rabbit at the end of its run just inside the hog wire. So I shouldered my rifle, lined up a shot in my reticle, and fired. I think I should have taken my time to take a better shot as it sat stone still at about 12-15 yards away, but it all happened fast. It was almost reflexive. I took a body shot in attempt to hit a lung and heart with a 30 grain H&N Baracuda .25. I didn’t take the headshot due to my lack of confidence in my feel for my new scope. I honestly didn’t see the pellet hit. The little 🤬 fur ball hit a hole in the fence with one quick hop and was back in the thicket. I tried to look for blood and saw none. It was almost dark and I had no realistic way to track it. The next day when I went looking for it I saw tufts of fur blowing in the area. Something must have made a meal of it. Since then I haven’t seen a single rabbit and I’m used to seeing them out at dusk. Not the first rabbit I’ve taken one in this area, but first time they’ve gone MIA afterwards. 
 
@L-Leon Maybe, but I doubt that I missed. I checked a couple inches of grass and the fence wire for blood. There wasn’t much else to check outside of the trail through the thicket. He was literally just inside the fence and I had the center mass in my reticle at a broadside angle. I specifically recall moving the reticle down from its eye to the body before squeezing off my shot. That quick hop through the wire put him directly on the other side of the fence in the brush. What I didn’t anticipate was the rabbit’s ability to hop clean through the wire after taking a pellet. Rifle’s regulator is set to around 140-145 bar and it’s tuned to the lowest power setting so I’m not getting pass throughs. For example, I took a bird a couple days ago at 25-27 yds and it dropped like a rock. Placed the pellet in the thoracic cavity around a 45-55 degree angle and crushed its heart. Pellet stayed in him. I didn’t see much of any blood until I moved the feathers around to view the entry wound. 
 
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I was kind'a thinking what L.Leon thought. I have had something similar happen with me and squirrels. If I hit and kill one, then it seems like they keep right on coming. I ambush them sitting on my bird feeders (they chew on and around the plastic spouts and make the seed hole so big that seed starts pouring out). If I shot and have a near miss, seems like I won't see another tree rat for days - like the one I messed told his buddies, "Don't go over there, it's suicide!"
 
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@bltefft It’s possible. I’m hoping the little guy didn’t suffer much. I did see a couple tufts of fur blowing around the next day. I’m thinking a feral dog, possum, or something found and ate it. I really don’t know. I was banking on it moving away from the fence if it was going to try to run before it died. I honestly can’t see me missing that shot, but without a carcass it’s a possibility.


The last one I killed with a neck shot (offhand from a standing position using iron sights) from a .177 at about 10 yards. It spun him around and he kicked for a minute. I didn’t know if the twitching was a nerve thing or him suffering so I walked over to him and put him down before dressing him. Gave the meat away and fed the offal to a feral dog. With the one I described in the initial post, I stood by the entrance/exit of the rabbit run and listened for movement. I didn’t hear any. So I really don’t know, but if you say you’ve had this happen with squirrels, it’s a possibility. I haven’t seen rabbits do this before. 
 
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I also think he was dead running or a clean miss because a wounded rabbit has a tendency to SCREAM!
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I thought about that last night. In fact I just finished searching the area for more evidence. All I found was a lot of brush and weeds pushed down and more fur in the same spot I saw it yesterday which is about 50-60 yrds away. Looks like something carried out into a clearing and made a meal of it . I’ve fed rabbit offal to a feral dog before by throwing it in the ditch in front of the dog. When I returned there was nothing left so I know they’ll eat the entire carcass. But it’s like I stated yesterday, without a carcass I really don’t know.
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I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I have killed them with a .177 BB. With a .25 cal barracuda in the chest I bet it didn’t go far. I would crank the power up though. Energy and placement are at the top but I think velocity matters too.


Have you tried putting bait out?
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@BryanH I haven’t tried to bait them. When a crop starts growing they may return. Even that may not mean much because I don’t recall them ever bothering my vegetables in the past. I haven’t seen them eat much of anything around here besides grass and the other plants that grow in it like clover and whatnot.
 
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theyre likely just hiding either from you or whatever ate the other one .. theyre around though, watching you .. they have to be pretty used to an area being safe to see them in the day .. here, their main hours of activity are about midnight to 3-4am ... infrared works good on them, lights their eyes up like little golden quarters lol .. ive got a couple of bad ones taping a flashlight to a gun and surprising them in the garden, they'll freeze unless your right on top of them and you can shut them right down, its just a matter of getting out there quiet-like in the wee hours .. not an easy thing to motivate yourself to do, you have to want it bad lol ...

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theyre likely just hiding either from you or whatever ate the other one .. theyre around though, watching you .. they have to be pretty used to an area being safe to see them in the day .. here, their main hours of activity are about midnight to 3-4am ... infrared works good on them, lights their eyes up like little golden quarters lol .. ive got a couple of bad ones taping a flashlight to a gun and surprising them in the garden, they'll freeze unless your right on top of them and you can shut them right down, its just a matter of getting out there quiet-like in the wee hours .. not an easy thing to motivate yourself to do, you have to want it bad lol ...

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@dizzums I was out until around 1:30am earlier in the week sitting and waiting. I didn’t hear or see a thing. That feeling of security may take a while for them to come back. I honestly don’t know. How does the infrared light work in conjunction with a regular scope for you? Is it enough to acquire a decent shot without an infrared night vision system? 
 
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I have to agree with @l.leon, you aren’t the first one to lose a the quarry to a slightly misplaced shot.

A couple of my outings pesting I had what I think, were a couple of low / gut shots on doves. When the pellet impacted the dove feathers went every where, then no big or a fly off. One played hide and seek with me, I think the haystack cat got it, however, I am not sure, but I spent 5 minutes looking for it.

Another bird flew about 250 yards to the far side of the property with a “tumble”, again I pursued then nothing, and I even had a tree to use as a landmark. I checked my zero and it was pretty on for the distance. And I was shooting JSB 25 grain King Heavies at 30 plus ft/lbs from my Taipan Vet Compact.

Also, there are birds I can’t recover that don’t fall off the roof, and the farmer doesn’t care because the magpies will get them or a wandering hawk. But still, if isn’t a clean kill I sometimes don’t take a second shot because of angle a pass through pellet could damage the roof of the stall. So now I hesitate on those roof shoots, one for down range safety, certainty for a clean kill, and making sure I don’t damage the roof.
 
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@l-leon I was out gunning for sparrows yesterday and found another pile of fur adjacent to some deer scat in the vicinity next to a fruit tree. It looked older, dull/faded, and courser. I assume it’s deer fur. They may have been scratching/rubbing on the tree, but the pile was beneath branches as opposed to closer to the trunk. I dunno what’s got the rabbits spooked but I haven’t even seen rabbit scat and I’d usually see it around the area. I think I’ve located a buzzard’s nest near by, but those shouldn’t spook rabbits. I can saw that I’ve noticed a couple of (or maybe the same) hawk frequenting the area in the past month. I’ve caught it perched low a couple of times which is new to me. I’m used to seeing them perch higher. 


@blackpaw To your point about birds taking a shot and flying off, it always sucks to have “I almost got him” or “I know I hit it” stories without a carcass. I botched a DRT shot for sure by second guessing my ability in taking a head shot, but I’m confident I hit it. In all fairness I was still feeling my scope out on this rifle. I’ve taken a couple birds with it and completely whiffed on a crow the other day. I was so excited to see one on the ground. They need to be killed or spooked because it’s planting season. I’m fairly confident in my ability with this setup. I think I’m good within 50 yrds. Under 30 yds from a stable position (siting, braced upon, or leaning against something solid) and it’s pretty much lights out if I don’t rush. My biggest concern is getting a consistent cheek weld because this Hawke scope has no parallax adjustment. 
 
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Give it sometime or a good rain. One day we got 6 woodchucks. The foxes, raccoons, possum, and ferile cats abound in the area. 3 of them were taken from the same spot just before dusk. The next day at dawn there was just tufts of bloody fur. The next time, a trail camera was put up with the dead chuck, it was the possums that savagely tore them apart. At dawn the crows came in and cleaned up the area. An organic gardener whacks dozens of bunnies, they keep coming back to his small plot.
 
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By the end of May 2021 I finally saw another rabbit at this location. It appears to be a juvenile and doesn't seem to have much fear of me. I've come to understand that cottontails nest above ground and tend to graze within their respective territories, so I suspect this will be the only one here unless she's a mom with yougins. I think I'll let this one put on a little more weight on before harvesting it.
 
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